We are starting the year off with books heading in several different directions. In DK, kindergarten, and grade 5, we will be reading books nominated for the California Young Reader Medal. Grade 1 will look at New Year's resolutions. Grade 2 will hear a book new to our collection about the science of snow; there's a lot to learn from this book (I learned quite a bit myself!) and it supports second grade's viewing of a video version of Snowflake Bentley, which was originally a Caldecott-Medal-winning picture book by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. Grades 3 and 4 will hear How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning, by Rosalyn Schanzer, who has written quite a few interesting history-themed picture books. Benjamin Franklin's birthday is January 17, and in honor of this, the day is also Kid Inventors' Day. Ms. Hooper's third-graders are working with biographies right now, and one of our upcoming schoolwide character traits is "inquisitive," so I could think of no better subject for a picture book than Franklin's scientific exploits.

The book club for 4th grade meets this Friday, January 6, in the library at lunch recess. The book club for 5th grade meets next week--Friday, January 13--in the library at lunch recess. Please eat lunch before coming to the meeting. All interested students are welcome.

There is a contest going on for students in grade 5! It is completely optional. I am looking for a 5th-grade student to accompany me to the school board meeting on the evening of February 1, at which the Manhattan Beach Historical Society will present the library with a gift of $600 for the purchase of history-related books. Students are invited to write a paragraph on the theme "Why learning about history is important to me." Any student who 1) can attend the February 1 school board meeting, AND 2) submits a complete paragraph (of the "green-yellow-red" format) will receive extra credit toward their history grade. The winning paragraph will be chosen based on content, clarity of expression, spelling and grammar, and overall effect. The winning student whose paragraph is chosen will read the paragraph aloud at the school board meeting on February 1, so students who submit a paragraph must be available for this event. The deadline for submissions has been extended to Friday, January 13. Students should turn in their paragraphs to me at the library. Thank you for your help in expressing our gratitude to the Manhattan Beach Historical Society.

This week Pennekamp holds its Mrs. Nelson's Book Fair. DK classes do visit the library this week, but all other classes use the time they would normally devote to library to, instead, visit the book fair. Proceeds from the book fair benefit the Pennekamp PTA; but the enthusiasm for reading that arises from seeing all those beautiful new books benefits our students, families, teachers, and community. The library does have a book fair "wish list," for anyone who would like to donate a book to the library's collection. Thanks to the generous families who have already done so!

DK classes will be hearing books having to do with the weather, which they are currently studying.In other library news, Scholastic orders have been sent in and books should arrive soon--probably next week. Without many class visits this week I have been busy cataloging books acquired through the use of Scholastic points. It bears repeating, thank you so much for purchasing through Scholastic. The points that accrue through your orders play a very significant role in our library's acquisitions. A list of recent acquisitions can be viewed on this website. The book club for grade 5 next meets on Friday, December 9. Belly Up, by Stuart Gibbs, is the current selection, which we will discuss that day. It is a mystery involving the death of Henry Hippo, mascot for the FunJungle zoo. I just finished it and really enjoyed it. Bits of factual information on animals and zoos are integrated into the story; it's an interesting technique, used more and to better effect than I have seen elsewhere.The book club for grade 4 next meets on Friday, December 16. The club's selection is The Secret Zoo, by Bryan Chick, which is next on my reading agenda. Copies should soon be available at the Manhattan Beach branch of the County of Los Angeles public library. Sorry for the delay in their receipt, which seems to have been caused by the Thanksgiving holiday.

Barbara Siegemund-Broka, library media specialist, maintains this blog to inform Pennekamp students and families about library news and related content. Any opinions expressed here are solely her own.

What's Ms. Barbara reading?

Chomp, by Carl Hiaasen​

﻿Worth repeating:﻿

"Along with her contemporaries Ellen Tarry and Ezra Jack Keats, Gyo [Fujikawa] made books that opened the door for today's conversations about diversity. She started with an empty white page and a wish for a bigger, better world and laid out a whole dream--inviting publishers, teachers, readers, future writers, and illustrators to imagine a more inclusive future."

--It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way, written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Julie Morstad